Quote:
Originally Posted by Daradon
I really wonder if the price would go up or down under legalization. I think it would stay about the same. For a few reasons.
One the economics of it. As cheap as weed is comparatively, it's still illegal, and is still an investment to those growing it and selling it, and all that costs money. Getting an illegal product to market, even one as benign as weed, has costs. So it'd be cheaper initially. But once you add taxes you chip some of that away. I wonder if it'd be about the same.
Secondly, just outta common sense, one would have to think the government couldn't afford to make it too much more expensive, otherwise, people would just get it under the table as usual.
Perhaps those that have been to places like Amsterdam could tell us how it compares in price.
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My friend who's mom has a weed card, right now she gets her stuff for $8/gram. And that's regardless of how much you order even in bulk. So that works out to ~$220/oz. On the streets you pay more for better quality. $220 on the streets better get you some good stuff. Not AAA grade, but it should be pretty good. However the more you buy, the cheaper it is in the end on a per gram basis.
Prices will definitely be something for regulators to consider. You are correct, if it's still cheaper to buy from the street guy, why bother going to the store? The good thing about that fixed government price is that you pay the same price across the board regardless of the quality. So she can get the heavy stuff (33% THC) and that will cost her the same as the lighter stuff she can get (16% THC). 33% THC on the street is pretty rare, but you'd be paying a premium. $240/oz at least but I've seen as high as $280/oz.
I heard a while back Trudeau say that that prices would have to be lowered because it wouldn't make sense to legalize weed but still have it more expensive then Joe Gangster selling it as everyone will still go see him. It will be interesting to see what kind of prices the government will set it at. Because once you add on taxes, you'd still have to be below that $10/gram threshold that street prices are set at.